Upon A Midnight Clear
by Johinsa
Summary: Continuous with "Ice and Fire", but not really a sequel to it. In the spirit of the season...


Upon A Midnight Clear

Upon A Midnight Clear  
by Johinsa

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha and DiC, except for the ones that belong to me. This story takes place right after "Ice and Fire", but you don't have to read that one to understand this one. Although naturally I'd be thrilled if you'd read it anyway.

* * *

Snow was falling over Tokyo, blanketing the city in white. Under the grey clouds the sun was setting, and it was starting to get dark. Neon lights from storefronts and street signs glowed brightly in the long afternoon, and here and there Christmas decorations had sprouted like red and green flowers. It was the twenty-third of December.

"I hate this, I hate this, I hate this," Raye muttered under her breath. With each repetition, her broom swished wide savage streaks across the cobbled courtyard, clearing away the snow that had collected there. "I hate Chad, I hate him, I hate him, why can't he do his own chores? How come I have to be stuck here on Christmas holidays cleaning the stupid temple?"

"Raye?" called a voice from inside.

"What?" Raye snapped. "What do you people want from me now?"

"Umm--sorry--" Mina said in a small voice, opening the temple doors. "Nobody answered the door so I let myself in the back. If this isn't a good time--"

"No, no, I'm sorry." Raye put down the broom, pushed her dark hair out of her face with a gloved hand. "I've just been having a really lousy day. Chad's gone to visit his family for the holidays and I've got all his chores to do. I didn't mean to yell at you."

"Well, you should cheer up!" Mina said brightly, her good mood restored. "Tomorrow's Christmas Eve, Raye! Do you know what that means?"

Raye sighed. "Yeah, yeah, peace on earth, happy happy joy joy, but I've got all these--"

"No, silly! Christmas sales!"

"I can't go shopping right now!" Raye protested. "I still have to finish sweeping the grounds, and then I have to polish the floor in the shrine and--"

"And you can do that later," Mina interrupted firmly. "Come on, Raye, we're all going. We'll help you finish your chores after we get back, but right now we're missing precious shopping time! Wouldn't you rather spend Christmas holidays with your friends than stuck here?"

"Well," Raye relented, "I guess Grandpa wouldn't really mind if I waited till tonight to get this done--"

"That's the spirit!" Mina grinned, and Raye found herself grinning back. "Come on. The others are all inside."

***

General Kalcite looked at himself in the mirror, adjusted his uniform one last time, and then headed out to his private transport. He returned the salutes of his military escort without really noticing them; he had more important things on his mind.

The transport would only take a few minutes to reach the designated meeting place: the palace of Lady Cithite. Cithite had maintained herself in strict neutrality ever since the end of Beryl's reign, and had earned a reputation for trustworthiness unequalled in the Negaverse. Meetings between rulers were held in her territory because they knew it was the one place where they were safe from traps and betrayal.

"Of course, her region is one of the richest in the Negaverse because she can charge whatever she likes for the privilege of using her land," Kalcite grumbled. "She knows we don't have anywhere else to go."

"Beg pardon, sir?" the driver said, glancing at him.

"Nothing." Kalcite glanced out the window, noting the wedge of military vehicles surrounding his transport. "Tell me, son, what's your name?"

"Dath, sir."

"Hmm." Dath looked young, though one could seldom tell with youma. "Do you remember Beryl's reign, Dath?"

"Yes, sir," Dath answered proudly. "I had the honour of serving under General Jeddite, sir, and then under Prince Darien."

"Darien," Kalcite remembered. "I served under him myself--now _he_ was a mistake and a half, let me tell you. Still, things were better in those days. None of this endless politicking. There was only one ruler and everyone knew where things stood. The campaigns were better then, too. Against Earth! Not against each other. It's time we brought those days back, son. Darkness knows we've tried, on our own, but we simply don't have the resources. The last attempt cost me one of my best lieutenants--girl named Astris, you probably didn't know her--and set me back by a year's worth of energy. It was almost a success, mind you--we discovered who Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask were, before that cursed Timewalker altered the timeline and we lost the knowledge--but we simply didn't have the energy resources to carry it through. We need to cooperate if we're ever going to accomplish anything."

"That's what this meeting's about, isn't it, sir?" Dath asked cautiously. "I understand that Lord Orite wants to negotiate a peace treaty with you and General Dulcite. Sir."

"We can hope so, yes. Dulcite has the energy stores Orite needs to mount a successful attack, and I have the troops."

"And what does Orite have, sir?"

Kalcite grinned. "I shouldn't be telling you this, I suppose, but in a few days it'll be public knowledge anyway. Orite has a plan to destroy the Sailor Scouts."

Dath looked dubious. "Sir, if you don't mind my saying so--there've been many plans, and none of them have ever worked."

"True. True. But Orite was one of Queen Beryl's top strategists."

"Uhh--Queen Beryl _is_ dead, sir."

"I know that!" Kalcite snapped. "Dulcite and I have looked over this plan, though, and it seems foolproof. Believe me, son, by the time this day is over, things will be set in motion and soon the Sailor Scouts will be destroyed once and for all."

***

"This is really nice of you guys," Raye said. "Thanks."

"No problem," Lita answered with a grin. "Glad to help." She stood on her tiptoes to loop a strand of Christmas lights over a ceiling rafter. "I think that's the last of them. How're you coming with those candy canes, Serena?"

"Mmph--what?" Serena looked up with a guilty expression, her mouth full.

"Serena!" Raye exclaimed in exasperation. "You're supposed to be hanging them on the tree, not stuffing your face! It's going to be _your_ fault if we run out before we're done."

"At least I'm helping," Serena protested. "If Amy and Mina had come we'd be done by now."

"If you hadn't spent so much time in the comics store, it wouldn't be this late and they wouldn't have had to go home," Raye retorted crossly. She started to say more, but was interrupted by the phone ringing. "I'll get that."

She picked up the phone. "Cherry Hill Temple, Raye speaking." Pause. "Calm down, I can't understand a word you're--_what?_" Long pause, while Raye's facial expression changed slowly from annoyance through confusion to horror. "How bad is it? All right, just stay calm. It'll be fine. Did you call an ambulance?" Pause. "Then you'd better do that. Just stay there. We'll be right down. Everything's going to be fine. Right. Bye." Raye hung up the phone, looking shaken. She pulled out her power wand and held it up. "Mars Power!"

"Sailor Mars, what's wrong?" Serena demanded.

"Transform," Mars ordered. "We've got to get to Mina's house. Amy's been shot."

***

Mina answered the door and hurried the three Scouts inside. "She's in here. I called an ambulance, they said they'd be here any minute."

Amy was lying on the sofa in Mina's living room, eyes closed and a bloody bandage around her thigh. "What happened?" Raye demanded as she changed back from Sailor Mars.

"We were walking home when Amy heard someone following us," Mina explained. She sounded surprisingly calm; Raye suspected she was still in shock. "We started running, figuring we'd be safe if we got inside. Then all of a sudden they started shooting at us."

"They?" Lita asked.

Mina nodded. "Two men. I didn't see their faces. I transformed and blasted at them, and they ran. I saw a van pull up and they jumped into it and drove off. Then I saw Amy lying on the sidewalk. I carried her inside and then I called you."

Serena looked around. "Where are your parents?"

"Away for the evening. That's probably for the best; there are going to be enough awkward questions about this as it is."

"They _were_ from the Negaverse, though, weren't they?" Lita asked, confused. "So why would they shoot at you if they didn't know who you were? I mean, you weren't transformed, were you?"

"I don't know what they were doing," Mina said with a sigh. "Maybe they weren't from the Negaverse. Maybe they thought we were someone else. Maybe--"

"But you said you blasted them," Lita pressed. "How could you do that if--"

"My Crescent Beam works just as well against humans as it does against youma. It's what I used when I was fighting crime in England, after all." Mina shook her head. "I don't know what to think. This is all so confusing."

There was a knock at the door. Raye answered it, and two ambulance attendants carrying a stretcher hurried inside. With calm efficiency, they lifted Amy onto the stretcher and carried her outside.

A policeman walked in as the paramedics left. "Which one of you girls is Mina Aino?" he asked without preamble.

"Me," Mina answered.

"Could you tell me what happened here?"

Mina gave him the same story she had told the Scouts, omitting only the part about her transforming--she said instead that she had heard some other people approaching and figured the attackers must have been scared off. The policeman listened, occasionally jotting things down in a small notebook. When she was finished, he said, "Your friend's been taken to Sunnycoat Hospital. She'll have been taken to surgery most likely, but you can probably go and see her in the morning."

***

"Report," Orite ordered.

"Three teams have reported back so far," Kalcite answered mildly, trying to keep his temper in check. Orite had been named commander-in-chief of the operation, and was due _some_ respect at least. "I expect the rest to return by sunrise."

"Good. There've been no problems?"

"None so far, sir." A light on the wall began flashing. "Hang on, there's another team coming in." He gestured to a subordinate--one of Dulcite's youma, he thought. "Bring those in, will you?"

"Yes, sir." The youma drew on Dulcite's energy stores and teleported three figures into the cavern. "Here they are, sir." All three were human, apparently, or at least reasonable facsimiles.

"Report!" Kalcite barked.

"We've found one that we think is Sailor Mercury, sir, and we've possibly also located Sailor Venus," one of the men reported. "When we attacked our target, there was another girl with her who transformed into Sailor Venus. We think our target was Sailor Mercury, sir."

"Good work," Orite congratulated them. "You see, Kalcite? What did I tell you? A foolproof plan."

"Did you find out anything more about them?" Kalcite asked.

"Venus took the target into a house--probably Venus' house, we think. The target was then taken to Sunnycoat Hospital."

"Excellent. Have them both killed as soon as possible--"

"Countermand," Orite said sharply. "Have them followed. With luck, they should lead us right to the other Scouts." 

***

"How're you feeling, Amy?" Lita asked. It was the next day, and they were gathered in Amy's hospital room. "Doing better?"

Amy nodded. "The doctor said I'd be fine, I just have to stay off my feet for awhile. They want to keep me here till this evening for observation; after that I'm free to go home." She smiled. "Some Christmas Eve, huh?"

"One of us should stay here with you at all times," Raye said firmly. "You shouldn't be left alone when you can't fight."

Amy blinked. "You really think that's necessary?"

"You tell me," Raye retorted. "You're the one who nearly had her head blown off by negatrash."

"If it _was_ the Negaverse," Lita added.

"What makes you think it wasn't?" Serena asked.

"All I'm saying is that this isn't their usual method. We shouldn't assume it was them just because we know they want us dead."

"Lita's right. I think we'd better try to figure this out," Amy said. "If it's the Negaverse, the fact that they were using conventional Earth weapons means they were trying to kill us, not drain our energy. Therefore we have to assume that they know who either Mina or I are in our normal form. If it's _not_ the Negaverse, either someone was shooting at us randomly--a psychopath or something--or one or both of us were a target. We can assume it wasn't a psychopath since there were three of them--"

"Three?" Mina interrupted. "I only saw two."

"The van driver makes three, and too well organized to be random. And it doesn't make sense for us to be a target of someone other than the Negaverse--that is, unless you have mob connections I don't know about, Mina."

"She might," Serena pointed out. "You used to fight crime in England, Mina--maybe someone's tracked you down. It _did_ happen right outside your house."

Amy was shaking her head. "I don't think so. Sailor V ceased to exist shortly before Mina's family moved to Japan; the trail would be too cold for anyone to find her after this long."

"So what have we got, then?" Serena asked. "It's the Negaverse. Luna could have told us that much, if we'd been allowed to bring her here."

"This time they've obviously discovered who Amy or me are, though," Mina said. "What I can't figure out is _how_."

"I think I can," Raye said darkly. "Look at this." She had been thumbing through the morning's newspaper left on the bedside table, and now held it up to the rest of them. A page-two story detailed the deaths of four schoolgirls, all shot last night in downtown Tokyo. Their pictures were shown; all four had short blue hair. "It _might_ be just a coincidence, but I think it's very unlucky to have blue hair right now."

Mina snapped her fingers. "So that's what they're doing!"

"You know, Serena," Lita suggested, "a hairstyle change might be in order. They probably started with Mercury because blue hair is so unusual--but six-foot pigtails aren't exactly common either, not to mention those meatballs."

Serena nodded. "I'll cut my hair. Or use the disguise pen; that might be easier."

"I've just thought of something," Amy said, sounding worried. "If those men saw Mina transform, they probably realized I was Sailor Mercury. If they're smart, they had the ambulance followed."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning they almost certainly know where and who I am. They'll probably have gotten my name and home address from the hospital registry by now."

"You probably shouldn't go home, then," Mina realized, "if they know where your house is. Too dangerous. For that matter, neither should I."

"You're right," Serena said. "We'll have you stay at Darien's apartment, he won't mind and that's probably the safest place for both of you. The rest of us had better not come visit again, to keep us from being recognized, but we'll meet you at Darien's once Amy's there. Everyone keep your communicators handy, and if there's an attack, call for help. Don't try to handle it on your own."

"That's it, then," Raye said. "Mina, Darien will come by this evening to pick you two up. Stay with Amy till then." The three of them left.

Mina sat in silence for awhile, unsure what to say. "Amy, I--" she began. "I'm sorry."

"What? Mina, it wasn't your fault," Amy said, surprised.

"I should have been more careful," Mina protested. "I should have seen this coming--"

"With what? Your spidey sense? Mina, don't be ridiculous. There's no way any of us could have known this was going to happen." Amy shrugged. "Besides, at least now we know their plan, and we can start figuring out a way to beat them."

***

"Well?" Kalcite asked.

The youma shook its head. "No-one matching those descriptions has entered the hospital to visit Mercury--Amy Mizuno, I should say--or left either. If they were there, they must have snuck in and out; we didn't see them."

"Not good enough," Kalcite snapped. "Keep watching the hospital and Venus' house. Do you have Mizuno's address?" The youma nodded. "Watch that too. Requisition as many people as you need. Watch whoever comes in or leaves, listen in on phone conversations if you can manage it--do whatever you can to find out about those places."

"Yes, sir." The youma bowed and left.

"Well?" Dulcite asked from behind him. "How's the plan going?"

"Quite well," Kalcite answered, turning to face her. "I have to admit, Lord Orite's really come up with a good one."

"_Lord_ Orite," Dulcite said mockingly. "Does he have you saluting him, too?"

"I don't notice _you_ disobeying his orders," Kalcite snapped back.

"Because we need him. This is his plan, after all, and he's a good strategist. But if it succeeds, he's going to have greater ambitions. He's already got us answering to him; with the victory over the Sailor Scouts under his belt, Orite might very well manage to unite the Negaverse. He could be the next Beryl."

Kalcite considered this. "I see," he said neutrally. "Certainly a unified Negaverse would be a good thing."

"On the other hand," Dulcite continued, "hypothetically speaking, if Orite were killed in the execution of his plan--of _our_ plan, that is--it would fall to his subordinates to finish the attack and accept any consequences thereof."

"Consequences which would include--?"

"Someone has to step into the power vacuum. A victory on Earth would do much to secure one's position in the Negaverse. Hypothetically speaking, of course."

"Of course." Kalcite smiled. "Tell me more of your--hypothetical plan."

***

"Make yourselves comfortable," Darien invited, opening the door of his apartment. "Sorry about the mess, I've been a little busy."

"A _little_ busy?" Mina repeated incredulously. The apartment was a shambles; books and papers and bits of styrofoam and cardboard boxes were strewn everywhere, half-eaten slices of pizza and empty aluminum cans lay on tables or piled in precarious stacks. "What on earth were you doing?"

Darien grinned ruefully. "Actually, I was working on Serena's Christmas present. Unfortunately it's still a work in progress and tomorrow's Christmas; I may have to give it to her late. Speaking of which, I'd probably better call her and let her know you two have arrived safely--" He disappeared into his room.

Amy maneuvred her wheelchair around the heaps of junk and opened Darien's fridge. "Want something to eat, Mina?" she asked.

Mina shook her head. "No thanks. I--hey, check this out." Her eyes lighted on a lopsided Christmas tree perched in one corner of the apartment with a pile of presents under it. "Ooh, I wonder what he got me!"

"Hey, no snooping," Amy admonished her.

"C'mon, Amy, it's almost Christmas already. Hey, look, this one's for you." Mina shook it. "It's a book. What a surprise."

Darien emerged from the bedroom. "Everyone's at the temple. I told them they could come on over."

"Are they all right?" Amy asked, hearing a note of concern in Darien's voice.

"They're fine," he assured her.

"Then what's wrong?"

Darien looked at the two girls. "Mina, your house was attacked less than an hour ago. The police are calling it an accidental fire, but Luna went to take a look and she said she was sure it was the Negaverse."

Mina gasped. "Are my parents okay?"

"They're fine, they weren't home," Darien assured her. "They were worried you might have been there, but Raye called your dad's office--and your house too, Amy--and said you two were spending the night at the temple."

"That's a relief, at least," Mina said, her ever-present good mood reasserting itself. "Hey, I've got some money. Who wants pizza?"

***

"You did _what?_" Orite demanded. "You imbecile! You might have ruined everything!"

"I was careful," Kalcite answered, unruffled. "I told you we had to get these Scouts out of hiding, keep them moving, get them to make a mistake. And they have. My people were monitoring all phone calls made to the Mizuno house; a girl named Raye phoned there and told Amy's mother where Amy was staying."

"Ah, yes," Orite said with heavy sarcasm, "the temple. Kalcite, you moron, do you have any idea how many temples there are in Tokyo? We could spend months searching them all!"

"True," Kalcite said, "except that we traced the call. Cherry Hill Temple." He held up a piece of paper on which was written an address. "I've sent a man to take a look. It's my belief that we'll find at least one more of the Sailor Scouts there."

"Hmph," Orite grunted. "All right, carry on. But _don't_ disobey my orders again, or you'll be punished." He turned and left.

Orite stalked out of the room and nearly bumped into Dulcite in the corridor outside. "What are _you_ doing here?" he demanded.

"Monitoring, sir," Dulcite answered respectfully.

"Are you? Monitoring what, exactly?"

"Him, sir." Dulcite gestured at the closed door, indicating Kalcite behind it. "Sir, may I speak freely?"

"Go ahead," Orite said, interested. "What is it?"

"I don't trust him, sir."

Orite barked a laugh. "No reason why you should! He's a liar as well as an insubordinate idiot. What's your point?"

"Sir, as you know, my official reason for being here is to make sure the energy reserves I've given Kalcite are used properly. There have been some--unusual expenditures lately. And I understand he's been disobeying some of your orders?"

"You understand correctly. Your spies are better than I'd thought. Go on."

"I want this plan to succeed as much as you do, sir," Dulcite said earnestly, the very picture of a starry-eyed young soldier, "but I think Kalcite might have another agenda. I wouldn't accuse him of anything, of course, but it seems--well, suspicious, sir. And there's more."

"Don't make me drag it out of you," Orite said irritably. "What?"

"Well, sir, if you were to die during this mission, Kalcite would be the one to take command. The glory of killing the Sailor Scouts would be his--it might be a significant temptation. After all, with that kind of victory in one's hands, there's no telling what might be done. The one who defeats them could rise incredibly high--perhaps even be the next King. There hasn't been a strong leader in the Negaverse since Beryl, after all." She shook her head, blushing suddenly. "I'm sorry, sir, I don't mean to babble. I must sound like an idiot. I know I'm politically naive."

"No," Orite said, intrigued. "No, what you're saying makes a great deal of sense. I've suspected there was more going on here than I'd thought." He gestured down the corridor. "Walk with me, Dulcite. Tell me more about your--suspicions."

Dulcite smiled. "I'd be glad to, sir."

***

Dath knocked on the temple door. A teenaged girl with long dark hair, dressed in a Shinto priestess' robes, answered it. Dath studied her carefully; she looked quite a bit like Sailor Mars. "Hello?" she said politely.

"Hi, miss," Dath said with a friendly smile. "Would you like to buy a ticket?"

"Pardon?" the priestess asked.

"A ticket. For our draw." Dath proffered a roll of tickets. "You could win a new car."

"You're out selling tickets on Christmas Eve?" the priestess asked, sounding surprised. "Isn't that a little weird?"

Dath grinned. "You're telling me. I have to have them all sold by tomorrow morning. With the luck I've been having and the weather as bad as it is, I'll be out all night."

"Well, come in. I shouldn't leave you standing outside in the snow like this. I'm sure I've got some money." The priestess moved back into the temple, and Dath followed. There were two other girls there, both dressed in winter coats as if they were just about to leave, but neither looked like Mercury or Venus. The blonde one with the cat on her shoulder could have been Sailor Moon, though, and the other was brown-haired and tall like Sailor Jupiter. Dath tried to conceal his elation. He'd found them.

"Hey, Serena, you want to buy a ticket for this guy's draw?" the priestess asked the blonde. "It's for a car."

"Sure," the one addressed as Serena said. "I like winning stuff! How about you, Lita?"

The tall girl shrugged. "Why not. It's Christmas Eve, after all. Charity and all that. Here." She pulled out a few coins from her pocket. "That's all I have."

"No problem," Dath said earnestly. "Here, put down your names and addresses on this piece of paper so I know where to take the car if you win."

"Okay." Serena took the paper. "Hey, we're the first ones on here."

"Like I said, I haven't had much luck selling these things." Dath handed them their tickets and took back his piece of paper with their three names and addresses on it. "Merry Christmas."

***

"There was something very odd about him," Luna murmured in Serena's ear as Raye closed the temple door behind the man. "I definitely sensed something strange. What about you, Artemis?"

"What?" Artemis asked, suppressing a yawn. "Sorry. Must have dozed off." The white cat was curled up in front of the fireplace and looked half-asleep.

Luna sighed. "I _said_, did you sense anything about that man?"

"Hmm." Artemis frowned. "Now that you mention it, I think I did. It seemed awfully faint, but there was a sort of--of--"

"Residue," Luna supplied.

Artemis nodded. "That's exactly what it was. What about you, Raye?"

Raye shook her head. "Nothing, but I wasn't really paying attention. Do you think--"

"--that he was from the Negaverse?" Luna finished. "Yes."

"Hold it," Serena said. "You mean we just gave our real names and addresses to someone from the Negaverse? Raye, that was the dumbest thing you could possibly have done!"

"Me?" Raye repeated angrily. "You were the one who signed it first!"

"After you let him in!"

Luna rolled her eyes. "Girls, could we possibly save this for later? Transform!"

"Right!" Serena said decisively. "Moon Crystal Power!" 

"Mars Star Power!" "Jupiter Star Power!" The other two girls followed suit, and the three Scouts hurried through the temple door and outside.

The snowfall had increased steadily, and by now it was very nearly a howling blizzard. They could dimly see the shape of the ticket man, making his laborious way downhill toward the street. A glow of dark energy surrounded him now that he no longer had to hold onto his disguise. "There he is!" Jupiter shouted over the noise of the storm. "Let's get him!"

Dath glanced back and was alarmed to see three female shapes heading toward him from the temple. "They must have caught on," he said to himself. "No time to make it back to the rendezvous site--I'll have to make my report from here." He touched a control on his belt with a gloved hand, while continuing to stagger and slide down the icy hill. "Base, this is Dath, reporting in."

***

"This is Base." Technician Riel set her communications pickup to "receive & record". "We're ready for your report."

"--can barely read you, Base--" Dath's voice in Riel's headphones was faint and overlaid with static. "--my report?"

"Boost your signal, Dath, I'm not reading you properly." Riel awkwardly adjusted the settings on her transmitter, cursing the Earth-manufactured equipment; it hadn't been built with quadrupedal youma in mind.

Dath's voice firmed out somewhat. "Reporting as ordered to Kalcite. Primary target confirmed: Sailor Mars, aka Raye Hino, Cherry Hill Temple. Secondary target also confirmed: Sailor Moon, aka Serena Tsukino--" He rattled off an address quickly. "Tertiary target also confirmed: Sailor Jupiter--oh shit--" There was the sound of an explosion, and then the channel went dead.

Riel cursed under her breath. "Dath? Dath, talk to me!" She knew it was useless; a blast strong enough to disrupt Dath's military-issue, all-weather transmitter would have been strong enough to reduce Dath to his component atoms. "Dammit!"

"Did you get anything, Technician?" Kalcite demanded.

She nodded. "Sailor Mars and Sailor Moon. He didn't finish reporting before the transmission cut out."

"Dead?" Kalcite asked.

"Most likely, yes."

"Damn. But all three are at the temple? All right, I want as many troops out there as we can muster in five minutes. We've got a window of opportunity here; I don't want to lose it. Move!"

***

"Now what?" Sailor Mars asked, looking down at the charred remains of the youma that Jupiter's thunderbolt had fried.

"We'd better get to Darien's," Sailor Moon decided. "They won't know where his apartment is, I don't think." _Not yet_, she added silently. "And we should change back; we're going to attract a lot of attention standing out here in our Sailor outfits." Suiting action to words, Serena faded back into street clothes. Lita was wearing her brown school uniform and a coat, and Raye her priestess robes. The three of them headed down the hill to the bus stop.

"Use the disguise pen," Luna suggested as they waited for the bus. "You look too conspicuous."

"You use it, Raye." Serena handed the jeweled pen over. "Lita and I can pass, but there's no way you'd be outside in this weather in something like that. You're not even wearing shoes."

Raye nodded. "What should I be?"

"I don't know. Anything. Somebody wearing warm clothes; it's freezing out here."

"You're telling me." Raye raised the pen in the air. "Disguise power! Turn me into a--um, a--a Finnish exchange student!"

"A Finnish exchange student?" Lita repeated, stifling giggles.

Raye glared at her. The priestess was now swathed in a heavy overcoat and winter boots, and carrying a pair of snowshoes. Her dark hair was done up in two braids down her back. "It was the first thing I could think of!" Raye snapped, and the other two girls doubled over laughing; the disguise pen had given Raye a thick Finnish accent along with the outfit.

Lita reached up and unfastened her hair clip, and her brown hair tumbled loosely around her shoulders. "You'd better do something about those meatballs, Serena," she suggested.

"Yeah." Serena glanced back up at the temple, barely visible now through the whirling snow. "Why can't I just go back and get a hat or something?"

"Now that the Negaverse knows Raye lives there, it's too risky," Artemis said firmly. "Look." He pointed with one paw up the hill. There was a bright flash from the vicinity of the temple, and then another. "They're already attacking. It's far too dangerous."

"Okay," Serena said quickly. "Umm." She removed the elastics holding her meatballs in place and wound her hair around her head turban-style, tying it in place with her scarf. "How's this look?"

Lita grinned. "You know, a minute ago I'd have said no-one could possibly look stupider than Raye, but--"

"Very funny!" Raye grumbled, which made Lita burst out laughing again.

The bus pulled up at the stop, and the three of them climbed aboard. It was almost empty, with only a few passengers. "Cold night," the driver commented as they handed him their fares. "Where are you going?"

Serena gave Darien's address. "Does this bus go anywhere near there?"

The driver nodded. "I can drop you off about a block away. Take a seat."

***

"Lord Orite," Kalcite reported, "my men have occupied the temple."

"And?" Orite demanded.

"Ahh--they found nothing."

"Nothing?" Orite asked, his voice dangerously quiet. "Nothing at all?"

"We couldn't find any of the Sailor Scouts," Kalcite amplified. "The temple was deserted. We think they may have realized that Dath was one of ours, and vacated the area."

"So we're back to square one," Orite said. "They won't go near any of the places we've already staked out, now that they know _we_ know where they live. Kalcite, you're an idiot. How are we supposed to find them now?"

"You don't understand, sir!" Kalcite said plaintively. "We've got them on the run now. It's the perfect time to launch an attack against Earth. They're already disorganized; if we attack now, they won't be able to stand against us!"

Orite considered this. "Very well," he said grudgingly, "I'll concede that this might not be a total strategic disaster. But in future, you will consult with _me_ before you attack. This is your last warning, Kalcite; you won't get another."

"Don't worry about it, Kalcite," Dulcite whispered after Orite had left. "Keep going as you are. The more disobedient you are, the more frightened he'll get. He knows how unstable his position is."

Kalcite bared his teeth in what might have been a smile. "Don't forget how unstable _your_ position is, Dulcite. If I fall, so do you."

"Kalcite, don't you trust me?" Dulcite asked with an outrageously vapid expression. Then she laughed. "Don't worry. My future's riding on this as much as yours is. I'll support you no matter what; after all, what else could I do?"

***

There was a loud knock at the door. "Go into my room and stay there," Darien ordered. "We don't know who this is." Mina obediently wheeled Amy into the bedroom as Darien got up to answer the door.

"Serena!" he exclaimed with relief. "I was worried about you. Are you all right? And why is Raye wearing that bizarre outfit?"

"Why is everyone making fun of me today?" Raye demanded.

Darien looked at her askance. "Finnish, right?" he asked with a grin. "Have you been using the disguise pen?" Raye nodded. "Well, you might as well change back. There's nobody here but us."

With relief, Raye surrendered the pen to Serena and her heavy coat and snowshoes turned back into Shinto robes and sandals. "That was really weird," she said in her normal voice. "Is it like that all the time?"

"Mostly," Serena said. She looked into the apartment. "Mina and Amy are here, aren't they?"

"Right here." Mina poked her head out of the bedroom. "Hi! Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine. How's Amy?" Lita asked.

"Amy's fine," Amy answered, maneuvring her wheelchair into the front room. "Tell us what happened. You weren't supposed to come here until midnight."

Briefly, Raye recounted what had happened, with Serena adding corrections as needed. "So the Negaverse knows where we all live," Raye finished. "We're all going to have to stay here for awhile."

Mina was shaking her head. "This isn't going to work. Sooner or later, they're going to find this place too. We're running out of places to hide."

"Then we have to stop hiding," Lita said firmly. "I've dealt with bullies before. The only way to beat them is to stand and fight."

"How?" Serena asked. "We don't know even know who they are, or where to find them."

"I think I might have some idea about that," Luna said. "You remember how we got into the Negaverse the first time?"

"The Sailor teleport?" Mina asked.

"No, before that."

Serena snapped her fingers. "That passage in the arcade!" She frowned. "But didn't that disappear after we defeated Malachite?"

"Well, yes and no," Artemis hedged. "We thought it might be a good idea to have a sort of--well, a way to sneak into the Negaverse, if we ever needed it. So we sort of managed to keep it open."

"You did _what?_" Raye demanded. "Do you know how dangerous that was?"

"Yes," Luna said firmly, "and it wasn't as dangerous as you might think. We used the power of the Silver Crystal to keep the tunnel from collapsing completely, so only the Crystal can open it again. We made very sure that the Negaverse couldn't use it."

"That would seem to be the most feasible option, then," Amy said. "Even if we can get into the Negaverse, though, how can we be sure of finding whoever is causing this? Last time we knew what we were looking for and even then we didn't--" She shook her head, shying away as they always did from the subject of their temporary death. "I mean, we can't just charge in there blindly and start breaking heads."

"Why not?" Lita wanted to know.

"Well, for one thing--" Amy pulled out her computer. "Our powers in the Negaverse aren't as strong as they are here. We all draw our power from our respective planets; those planets don't exist in the Negaverse, as far as I know. We would be significantly weaker there."

"I didn't notice any difference last time," Raye pointed out.

"That's because they'd opened a huge hole between the Negaverse and our universe, and we could draw power from the planets through it. This time we'll have to collapse the tunnel again as soon as we go through it, to keep it from being detected. I'm not sure how your powers will be affected," Amy added, turning to Darien, "since I'm afraid I don't know enough about them even to make a guess."

"All right," Serena said. "So our powers will be weaker. We can deal with that. What else?"

"Well, secondly, we're going to be very conspicuous," Amy said. "Our Scout uniforms are pretty distinctive, and I would imagine that most of the monsters in the Negaverse would tear us into shreds as soon as they recognized us." Serena swallowed convulsively, looking nervous.

"I can get you all disguise pens," Luna suggested. "That should take care of that."

"Where would you get them?" Lita asked curiously.

"Well--" Luna hedged. "The same place I got the first one, naturally."

"Oh. Where's that?"

"That's not important. The point is, we can disguise ourselves as Negaverse soldiers. Jeddite and Zoisite and the rest of them looked fairly human; we can assume that if we're wearing Negaverse uniforms we won't be recognized."

"One last point," Amy continued. "The tunnel is probably going to lead into those same caves we were in last time. How do we find out where we're going? I doubt there's a tourist information bureau."

"Same way we found Beryl," Mina suggested. "Set your computer to scan for large concentrations of nega-energy. That should pick up whatever it is these people are doing."

Raye nodded decisively. "All right, let's go."

"Now?" Serena asked.

"Did you have something better to do?" Raye asked snidely. Serena glared at her.

"Raye's right," Luna said. She leapt into the air and did five quick somersaults, retrieving five jeweled pens identical to Serena's, which she handed to the other Scouts and Darien. "Transform and let's get going."

***

Riel glanced down at her station as a frantic beeping noise erupted from one of her boards. "General Kalcite!" she called. "I'm detecting an intrusion, sector nine. Were any of your teams scheduled to come back yet?"

"No," Kalcite answered shortly. He peered down at the board, reading the energy signature of the teleport tunnel. "That's not one of mine."

"But then who--?" Riel began, then cut herself off.

"Orite," Kalcite mused. "It must be him; who else would have troops on Earth right now? But what's he up to? Technician!"

"Sir?"

"Have a detachment of my soldiers go to sector nine and bring the intruders here. I'm going to have a talk with these people."

"Yes, sir." Riel bent to her instruments, carefully not watching as Kalcite left the room and General Dulcite entered.

"Well?" Dulcite demanded. "What's got him so worked up?"

"Intruders in sector nine," Riel answered promptly. She was loyal to General Kalcite, of course, as far as loyalty went, but disobeying orders from _any_ general was more than a lowly Technician's head was worth. "He's gone with some of his soldiers to investigate. He thinks they're Orite's men."

"Really," Dulcite purred. "So that old fool Orite has some backbone after all. I wonder what he's up to." She tapped her fingers absently on the console's edge, thinking. "Show me the energy signatures of these intruders' teleport."

Riel did so. "That's not Kalcite's signature, but it isn't Orite's either," Dulcite realized. "It looks familiar, though--Technician, can you get me a list of all the energy signatures in use over the last--oh, say two years, and match it with this one?"

"I think so. Just a second." Riel manipulated her keyboard, and a scrolling list appeared. One of the names blinked green: a match. 

Dulcite stared incredulously at the lighted text. "_Malachite?_ That's not possible! He couldn't have initiated a teleport; he's _dead_, for Beryl's sake! What's going on?" She turned angrily on Riel. "Are your instruments malfunctioning, Technician?"

"No, General," Riel stammered. "If the computer says that's Malachite's signature, it is."

"Hmm." Dulcite nodded. "I'd better take a look for myself. Tell no-one I was here." She turned and, with a negligent gesture of one hand, was gone.

***

The Scouts stepped through the tunnel and, in a subjective instant, were elsewhere. The place they landed in was almost unrecognizable as the caves they'd previously visited, though; the walls were reinforced with steel beams and the floor was a paved metal walkway. Signs painted in red and blue on the walls indicated the direction to various points of interest: Exit C, Main Barracks 9-A, Main Barracks 9-B, Exit J, Maintenance 193-L, Environmental--

"Here!" Lita's gloved finger stabbed down on one set of characters. "Administration and Technical Complex. That sounds right." All six of them had transformed and then used the disguise pens to alter their appearance; they were now dressed in the nondescript grey-blue uniforms of Negaverse soldiers. Although they were technically in their Sailor forms, they had agreed not to use their powers unless it was an emergency; they would be discovered immediately if they did, Luna was sure. Serena found herself thinking of them by their Earth names; she wasn't used to thinking of the Sailor Scouts out of uniform.

"Administration? Sounds right to me," Amy agreed. She had left her wheelchair at the apartment and was hobbling on crutches. "Whoever's in charge here, we should find them there."

There was a sudden shout from further down the corridor. "You there! Identify yourselves!" A squad of bonafide Negaverse soldiers burst into view, and Serena felt her heart sink. They were going to have to fight their way out--

"Identify yourselves first!" Darien snapped in an icy tone.

One of the soldiers saluted. "Second Lieutenant Quartzite, fifth platoon of Kalcite's second battalion. We're under orders to--"

"I don't care what your orders are, _Second Lieutenant_," Darien sneered. "I don't report to Kalcite and I have no interest in reporting to _you_."

"Sir," Quartzite said in confusion, "we were told to bring you to Kalcite--"

"Then you had better go and tell him you screwed up, hadn't you? I don't plan on coming with you, and I sincerely doubt you can make me."

Quartzite looked uncomfortable. "But--"

"Run along," Darien said, sounding suddenly bored with the whole matter. "Kalcite's no more than a jumped-up private from a tin-soldier army, and I'm not going to waste any more time on him or his lackeys. You tell him that, why don't you? Go on, get out of here."

"Sir!" Quartzite saluted again and hurried off.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Serena reached up on her tiptoes to kiss Darien on the cheek. "That was _wonderful!_"

"Thanks," Darien said with a wry grin.

"How'd you know it would work?" Amy wondered. "I mean, was that really the way a Negaverse soldier would act?"

Darien gestured to the insignia on the shoulder of his uniform. "When I used the disguise pen, I made myself a colonel," he explained. "I thought it might help get us out of trouble."

"Clever," Luna approved. "But what was all that about Kalcite? You sounded almost as if you knew him personally."

"Kalcite was a spineless little bastard and I doubt he's changed much," Darien answered absently. "He was a lieutenant under my command. I busted him down to private after he lost a major engagement--he must've worked his way back up the ladder since then--" As if suddenly aware of what he was saying, Darien closed his mouth abruptly. "I don't really remember."

"Oh," Serena realized. "You knew him when you were--" But Darien's enslavement at Queen Beryl's hands was a subject as taboo as the Scouts' deaths, and Serena couldn't think of a tactful way to mention it.

"When I was last here, yeah." Darien shook his head. "I really _don't_ remember much of it, or at least I didn't--I guess being here is bringing some of it back."

"Are you going to be all right?" Raye asked worriedly. "I mean--"

"No, I'm fine. Like I said, I don't really remember it anyway." Darien glanced up and down the corridor. "We might want to get moving before more of those goons show up. Come on."

***

"You let him _go?_" Kalcite raged. "You had one of Orite's men, _proof_ of Orite's treachery, right in your hands and you _let him go?_"

Quartzite trembled. "S-sir," he stammered, "it wasn't--"

"I don't want to hear your snivelling excuses. You get out there right now and you bring those traitors in--"

"Kalcite, calm down." Dulcite smiled reassuringly at Quartzite; if anything, the soldier trembled harder. "Quartzite did what he thought was best. He says this man was a colonel--that made the man the highest-ranking officer on the scene, and Quartzite had no choice but to obey him, under regulations. If anything, this is our fault for not anticipating that anyone Orite sent out would have to be a fairly senior officer."

"I suppose. Very well, Quartzite, report to your superior officer for administrative punishment. Dismissed." Quartzite saluted and left. "Well, Dulcite? What's your opinion?"

"After you left the Technical Complex," Dulcite said, "I had a technician run a more detailed check on the teleport. It was unmistakably Orite's signature." Her face betrayed no hint of her thoughts. "I went to investigate myself, but by the time I reached sector nine the soldiers were gone. Unfortunate, that."

"Unfortunate indeed," Kalcite said dryly, "since if you had caught them, you would be the one responsible for them as witnesses until proper charges could be laid against Orite. A tiresome nuisance, protecting witnesses, especially when Orite would be sure to make an attempt to silence them. Their capture wouldn't be an unmixed blessing."

"We understand each other," Dulcite agreed levelly. "However, it occurs to me that with the two of us both charging Orite, our case could be put through very quickly. Breaking alliance is a serious matter, after all, and the Chief Arbitrator--it's still Cithite, isn't it?--has a vested interest in this particular alliance, since it was formed in her territory. At most, we would only have to keep the witnesses for a few days, and a night or two of lost sleep is a small price to pay when we consider the rewards which will accrue after we take command of this operation."

"Very well," Kalcite said. "I'll have my men redouble their efforts. We'll find these soldiers within the hour." He frowned. "Although I'm not sure what use they'll be as witnesses; Orite would have chosen only his best and most loyal. It might be difficult to convince them to testify."

Dulcite smiled. "Don't worry about that, Kalcite; I can be very convincing. You just find them, I'll take care of the rest."

***

Mina peered at the sign, which was so flaked and peeled it was barely readable. "Umm--Experimental Laboratories?"

"Administration is just north of here, then," Darien said. "This way."

"How do you know that?" Raye demanded. She was getting more and more ill-tempered the longer they spent in the caverns. "This place wasn't even built when you were in the Negaverse before. It was all just caves."

"All outposts are designed on exactly the same plan," Darien explained without rancor. "Makes it easy to find your way around. This place is exactly the same as Beryl's stronghold, aside from the fact that it's underground instead of inside a mountain."

"Oh." Raye nodded; that made sense. "So how close are we?"

"We're here." Darien stopped outside a door labelled "Authorized Military Personnel Only, Violators Will Be Executed." "This is Technical, and Administration is on the other side. In Beryl's stronghold, her throne room would be just past this room. Here, I guess it's whoever's in charge. Kalcite, those soldiers said." He pushed open the door.

The room was practically deserted, filled floor to ceiling with banks of computers clicking and whirring and flashing yellow and green. A single person sat in front of a large monitor screen with a set of headphones over her ears; otherwise the room was empty.

Darien strode up to her. "Report, Technician," he ordered.

The technician snapped to attention. "Colonel!" she acknowledged, glancing at the rank insignia on Darien's shoulders. "Uhh--report on what, exactly?"

"Just a general sort of report," Darien answered.

"Oh. Umm, not much to report really. All systems are functioning normally. The intruders who teleported into sector nine still haven't been found. The energy reserves are slightly more depleted than they were yesterday. The staff cafeteria's out of jelly donuts--"

"All right, thank you, Technician. Can you tell me where to find Kalcite? I've just been transferred here and I've got to get these troops properly assigned." His negligent gesture took in the Scouts behind him. "Is he in Admin right now?"

"Yes, sir, but he and General Dulcite and Lord Orite are in conference right now. I'm not supposed to let anyone in."

"Well, this is important!" Darien said with an air of annoyance. "Can't you make an exception?"

The technician laughed. "You've gotta be kidding, Colonel."

"Listen," Darien said. "This'll be completely on my head. Trust me. I'll even tell them you tried to stop me. Okay? I'm taking this off your shoulders; this is a direct order from a superior officer. I order you to open that door and let us in."

"Okay." The technician depressed a switch, and a door at the far end of the room clicked unlocked. "Go on in. Down the hall, first left."

"Thanks, Technician." Darien gave a salute, which she returned, and he and the Scouts headed through the door.

Riel adjusted her headphones and tapped another switch. "Technical to General Kalcite. The intruders just went through here."

"Where did you direct them?" the voice through the speakers asked.

"Detention Block A. Was that right?"

"Good work, Technician. Excellent work. I'll see to it that you're promoted for this." Kalcite signed off.

Riel started to go back to her work, then sighed, remembering. She tapped the communication switch again. "Technical to General Dulcite. You wanted to be informed when Kalcite caught the intruders? He has. Well, I mean, I have. I've sent them to Detention A."

"Good work, Technician," Dulcite said in a smiling voice. "Well done. There's a promotion in this for you, after everything's been settled."

"Thank you, General." Riel returned to her duties. _I hate this job_, she thought.

***

Darien glanced down at Amy's computer and frowned. "This is odd."

"What is?" Serena asked.

"They must have changed the layout after all. In Beryl's stronghold this would have been the way to the detention centre--"

He reached the obvious conclusion at the same time the others did. As one, they rushed back down the hall to try the door, but it had been locked behind them. "Is there another way out of here?" Luna demanded of Darien. "Where does this hallway go?"

"Um--" Darien tried to remember. "I'm not sure. I wasn't down here much. We didn't have many prisoners really, just soldiers being held for various reasons, and none of them were under my command."

"None of them?" Mina asked. "You mean none of the soldiers that _were_ under your command ever committed any crimes?"

Darien frowned. "That does seem odd, doesn't it? But I don't recall if I was ever here at all."

"Try to remember," Amy urged.

"I told you, I _can't._"

"Hey, Luna?" It was Serena. "What about the Luna mind meld? You used it on us after we returned from the battle with Beryl; would it work on Darien too?"

"I can't see any reason why it wouldn't," Luna answered. "Well, Darien? Are you willing to try it?"

Darien nodded. "We'd better hurry. Kalcite's soldiers will be down here any minute."

Serena set Luna down on the floor, and the black cat stared up at Darien. A thin ray of light extended from Luna's forehead to touch his.

_"Where are we going, Prince Darien, sir?" Lieutenant Kalcite asked, hurrying to keep up with Darien's long-legged stride._

"Detention," Darien answered shortly.

"Why? Have we got someone down there? Are we taking someone there?" Kalcite didn't ask who it might be; for all he knew, it could be himself. Prince Darien had a reputation for coldness; he was perfectly capable of ordering a man to his own execution and expecting him to show up. And the hell of it was, the soldier probably would; it would almost certainly be preferable to what happened to those who disobeyed Prince Darien's orders. Kalcite didn't know exactly what that was, but they were never seen again.

Darien smiled. "You ask too many questions. But no, it isn't you." Kalcite shivered and wondered again if Darien could read minds. "We're meeting a prisoner there. One of your battalion, as a matter of fact; do you know a PFC Opal?"

"No, sir."

"No? Doesn't matter. She's charged with insubordination and refusal to follow the orders of a superior officer."

"That's--a serious charge, sir." Not a capital charge, but still high on the list of things that could bring down the personal and unwelcome attention of one's superiors. 

"It is. And since she's technically under my command, I have to go and deal with her. Tedious, but necessary." He paused before a door marked with red danger symbols. "Here we are."

They went through the door and through a checkpoint where a blank-faced guard examined their passes carefully before escorting them in. A long hallway stretched before them, lined on either side with cells as far as they could see. Some were empty; most were not. Darien avoided meeting the eyes of the prisoners; they were irrelevant to him.

He stopped before one of the cells, consulting a piece of paper. "This one," he said. "Cell 3049, PFC Opal. Open it." He waited with barely concealed impatience as the guard unlocked the cell and let Darien and Kalcite inside.

Darien stared down at the prisoner. Her uniform was unkempt and dirty from days of wear. Her blonde hair hung lank and uncombed around her shoulders, and the purpling bruises on her face gave evidence of the treatment she'd endured here. She didn't look afraid of Darien, though; in fact, she looked almost relieved to see him. She reminded him of someone--he couldn't put his finger on who it might be. There were so many things he couldn't remember, so many things that he thought he should know--

"Sir?" Kalcite. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," Darien said. He turned to address Opal. "Well?"

She smiled up at him. "Thank the Queen you're here! I was starting to think everyone had forgotten about me, you know? Can you please tell that trained baboon," she nodded in the direction of the guard, "that this is all a big mistake?"

"I'll be the judge of that. Why were you sent here?"

The girl shrugged. "My platoon commander asked for volunteers for an energy-collecting mission on Earth. Nobody volunteered, of course, and my commander told me I was the one going. I mean, come on! Everybody knows those are suicide missions. The Sailor Scouts always show up and the next thing you know it's a posthumous medal and a nice bunch of flowers sent to your parents. So I told the commander I wasn't going, and he said I was and I said--"

"I get the picture," Darien interrupted in a bored tone of voice. "All right, get moving." He took her arm, not ungently, and helped her to her feet; she was somewhat unsteady after her days of confinement but recovered her balance quickly. 

"I really appreciate this, sir," Opal said with feeling as they walked down the corridor with Kalcite and the guard following. "You coming down here and all, I mean. I know how busy you are and everything--"

Darien dismissed this. "Forget it. You're under my command, it's my responsibility to deal with you." 

Opal blinked at the odd phrasing. She looked around and realized that they were not in fact headed, as she'd thought, for the exit. In fact, they were going the other direction, deeper into the prison complex. "Prince Darien, where--" she began, but he silenced her with a gesture.

"We're here," he said after a moment, stopping in front of a blue door. "Go in." Puzzled, Opal obeyed.

The room they entered was small and dimly lit. It was bare of furniture, and the walls were unsmoothed rock. The wall opposite the door was covered with pockmarks, and stains of dried blood testified to the purpose for which the room was used.

Opal stared at Darien as realization dawned in her eyes. "No," she whispered, then louder, "No! You can't do this--I didn't--"

"Discipline must be maintained," Darien said in a level voice. "Against the wall, Private. Kalcite?" The lieutenant drew his sidearm.

"Please, Prince Darien!" Opal begged. Abandoning her earlier poise, the girl dropped to her knees on the ground at Darien's feet. "Please don't do this. I'll obey orders, I'll go to Earth, I'll do anything, please don't kill me! Please, have mercy!"

Darien looked down at her. "Mercy," he repeated, and for a moment his face changed. The lines of suspicion and hatred and fear fell away, and for a moment he seemed a different person. He looked at her, started to speak--

Then the moment passed, and his iron expression reasserted itself. "You're a traitor and a coward, PFC Opal. You don't deserve mercy. Kalcite, ready the prisoner."

"Aye, sir. Sorry, ma'am." Kalcite dragged Opal over to the wall, where she sat huddled, weeping. He aimed his weapon, sighted. One shot to the head would make it quick and relatively painless. "Ready, sir."

"Fire."

The beam of light vanished from Luna's forehead and Darien staggered, nearly falling. Serena hurried to his side and steadied him. "Darien! Are you all right?"

"Fine," Darien answered hoarsely. "I'm fine. This way." He brushed off Serena's hands and headed down the corridor. "There's a way out of the detention complex that goes through the barracks and up to the officers' quarters. I remember using it once."

"Luna?" Serena asked quietly as the two of them dropped to the back of the group. "What did he see?"

The black cat shook her head. "He'll tell you himself if he wants you to know."

***

Kalcite looked at the monitor, which showed the group of intruders walking down a long hallway. "Where could they possibly be going?" he wondered.

"That way leads to the barracks," Dulcite answered. "They must be planning to go through there."

"That's ridiculous! I've got a half platoon in there! Surely they must know that--"

"They must be planning to go through. The man's a colonel, after all, or at least dressed as one and you've no-one in barracks higher than a first lieutenant; he could order them to leave him alone and they would. If he doesn't know that we know he's here, he must think it'll work."

"But we do know," Kalcite pointed out. "So we can stop him."

Dulcite smiled. "You have an amazing grasp of the obvious, don't you? Let's call the barracks."

***

Darien led them through a maze of corridors and cells up to a door labelled "Main Barracks 12-B". He pushed it open without hesitation and strode through, looking every inch the officer.

Soldiers sat on narrow bunks or leaned against walls in various states of uniform or undress. Some were playing cards, or writing letters, or talking. Most snapped to attention when Darien entered, followed by his entourage of Scouts. Several of the soldiers saluted.

"At ease," Darien said with an air of confidence. "Just passing through. As you were." He returned their salutes, as did the girls following him, with somewhat less assurance--they didn't know precisely what rank they were supposed to be, for one thing, and some of the soldiers were giving them strange looks.

One of the soldiers, this one in full uniform but barefoot, stepped out in front of the group when they were about halfway through the long narrow room. "Sorry, sir," he said respectfully, "you can't come through here."

Darien shrugged. "If you'd prefer we take another way round, Sergeant--"

The sergeant grinned toothily. "Wasn't what I meant, Colonel. If that's what you are." He gestured, and the soldiers who a moment before had been lounging indolently now surrounded the intruders. "We've orders from General Kalcite to take you in. Come on."

"I'm your superior officer," Darien began indignantly, "and--"

"I take my orders from Kalcite," the sergeant snapped. "You going to come peacefully?"

Darien reached inside his jacket and pulled out a rose. "What do you think?"

As if it were a signal, the fight was joined. The Scouts found themselves fighting back-to-back, Mars' fireballs and Jupiter's thunderbolts holding the soldiers at bay while the other four picked off individual targets. It was a good strategy, but not one that could last long.

Afterward, Sailor Moon only remembered the battle in flashes and scenes: here, a youma dissolving into dust from a direct strike by Venus' crescent beam; there, Sailor Mars being forced apart from the others, surrounded and attempting to fight off opponents in four directions at once; there again, another youma, this one caught by the backlash of a thunderbolt and staring in oddly human horror at what was left of his arms; over there, Sailor Mercury lying on the barracks floor, her leg wound split open and bleeding--

It was over quickly; the Scouts were overwhelmed by sheer numbers, and led or dragged back down the corridor and into a cell. The metal door clanged shut.

***

"We have them?" Kalcite asked. 

The sergeant saluted, wincing as the movement jarred his injured arm. He'd been slammed into a wall by Tuxedo Mask and was nursing a grudge. "We have them, sir. Detention A, cell fifty-one. I've posted five of my men as guards."

"Not enough. Triple them," Kalcite ordered. "We won't have any mistakes this time. Where's Dulcite?"

"Over here." Dulcite was draped over a chair behind him. "This is going perfectly, Kalcite. We'll have Orite in a cell himself by the time the day's over."

"What a good Christmas present that'll be," Kalcite chuckled.

Dulcite frowned. "Christmas present?"

"An Earth holiday," Kalcite explained. "They give presents to celebrate something or other. I think it has something to do with the solstice. Today's Christmas Day."

"Really." Dulcite smiled and stretched languorously. "Happy Christmas, then. I'll give you his head on a pike for a present." She stood. "Sergeant?"

The sergeant, who had been standing somewhat uncomfortably by the wall, straightened up. "Sir?"

"Take the day off. Kalcite and I will take command of your men and supervise guarding the prisoners ourselves."

"We will?" Kalcite asked, surprised.

"Dismissed, Sergeant." The man left, and Dulcite said, "We have to, Kalcite. Think about it. Orite managed to get some of his spies right inside your own barracks before they were caught. Can you be sure you can trust all your men? How many of them might be on his payroll as well?"

Kalcite nodded thoughtfully. "You could be right."

"I'll guard them today, and you take over tonight. We can't afford to take any chances here."

"What about questioning the prisoners?" Kalcite asked.

"I'll take care of that as well. Leave it in my hands." Dulcite smiled. "Don't worry, Kalcite. This will go just as planned."

***

"He's done _what?_" Orite demanded.

"Captured some of your spies, sir," Dulcite said deferentially. "I thought I'd better warn you. He plans to use them to charge you with breaking alliance. And he can make it stick, too, sir; you know Cithite will back him if she's afraid of her neutrality being compromised."

"Don't tell me what I know," Orite grumbled. "All right, so what do we do?"

"I've told him I'll take care of the questioning of the prisoners myself. That gives us some time before anyone finds out about them, but sooner or later the truth will out. You'll have to free them. Or kill them, though that would be harder. Without witnesses, Kalcite will have no case. If you could manage to set them loose--"

Orite nodded. "I could send some people tonight--"

Dulcite shook her head. "You send an army in there, too many people will know. You know the old saying: two can keep a secret--if one of them is dead. You don't want to risk anyone finding out you've been spying on Kalcite. No, the best way to do this is for you to send someone in alone."

"But you just said I shouldn't tell anyone!" Orite protested.

"Hmm. That's a good point. You're right, you should keep this as secret as possible." She appeared to think for a moment. "What if you sent someone who already knew?"

"Like who? The only people who know are you and me."

"You're right," Dulcite admitted. "And I'm on night duty tonight; it'd look suspicious if I tried to get off. I suppose you'll have to go, then."

"But--" Orite began. Dulcite cut him off.

"Do you want to spend tomorrow in the cells? Or worse; Kalcite was bragging about having your head put on a pike."

Orite sighed. "I'll go. I'll go. Tonight?"

"Tonight." Dulcite smiled. "Don't worry, Lord Orite. This will go just as planned."

***

"How are they?" Serena asked.

Lita sighed. "I don't know. Amy's the one who wants to be a doctor, not me." Lita had taken a first-aid course as one of the requirements for her blue belt, but for some reason it hadn't covered _anything_ about injuries sustained in battles with evil youma. She had set Raye's broken arm and bandaged Amy's reopened leg wound with strips of her cape--for some reason, her negaverse uniform had a cape with it.

"But they're going to be all right, though, aren't they?" Serena pressed.

"They'll be fine," Lita assured her. She wasn't actually certain of that, but she didn't think a broken arm would kill anyone, and Amy was sitting up and looked fairly healthy, all things considered.

"Okay," Serena said. "That's good. We've got to get out of here as soon as we can, though; you have any ideas?"

Lita shook her head. "Amy and Raye are hurt, everyone in this universe wants us dead, we're locked in this prison and there's no way out--I wouldn't say we have a lot of options."

"You think we have _any?_" Raye asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I was being optimistic," Lita retorted.

Serena grinned, got up and made her way over to Darien's side. He was sitting apart from the others, staring at nothing. He hadn't said a word since they were put in here.

Serena sat beside him for several moments without speaking, unsure if he even noticed her. Finally she put her hand on his arm. He stirred, as if awakening from some deep trance. "She reminded me of you, you know," he said quietly.

"Who?" Serena asked.

Darien recounted the memories Luna had brought back. "She reminded me of you," he finished brokenly. "I didn't know it then, I didn't remember--only I do now, I--"

"Hey. It's all right."

"It's _not_ all right!" Darien shouted. Everyone turned to stare at him. "It's not," he repeated more quietly. "The longer I stay here, the more I'm remembering about--about what I did when I was here. I tried to kill you, all of you--I was a monster. I--"

"Darien," Serena said softly, "that wasn't you. That was someone Beryl created out of her own evil. You didn't know what you were doing. You weren't responsible."

"I was," Darien whispered. "All those terrible things I did--that was _me_ doing them, Serena. Me. Beryl may have erased my memory, she may have told me things to make me over into her image, but I did what I did because some part of me wanted to." He shook his head ruefully. "It's no surprise I didn't want to remember any of it, I guess. I didn't want to believe I was capable of that sort of thing--"

"Darien, listen to me." This was Raye. "You didn't know. There was no way for you to. And the important thing is that when you really had to, you remembered. You saved Serena at the end, and that's what counts."

"Is it?" Darien asked bitterly. "I betrayed you, I hurt you, I almost killed you--but because Serena managed to stop me before I actually killed anyone, none of it matters?"

"None of us blame you," Mina insisted. "You don't have to blame yourself. Can't you see that?"

"Mina's right," Amy said. Lita nodded agreement. "We know it wasn't your fault."

"What makes you so sure?" Darien demanded.

"Because I know you," Serena said with conviction. "Because I love you and I know you wouldn't ever betray me."

Darien looked away. "I did betray you," he said harshly. "Did you know Beryl and I were lovers?"

Serena didn't flinch. "I guessed," she admitted levelly. "When I saw you two together in Beryl's throne room, I thought you might be."

"And you're not angry?" Darien asked wonderingly.

"Of course I'm angry, you idiot!" Serena shouted. "I'm angry at Beryl, not at you! I keep telling you, _it wasn't your fault!_ I'm furious at her for what she did to you! I wish she were alive so I could kill her again! I--"

"Shut up!" a guard's voice called from outside. "Keep it down in there!" Lita shouted back an improbable suggestion. Serena and Amy blushed.

The door crashed open and a female Negaverse soldier in the uniform of a general strode in. "Didn't I make myself clear?" she snapped. "I said, be quiet. Do I have to tell you again?" Silence answered her. "Now," she continued, "all of you are my prisoners. If you do exactly as I say, some of you may survive. I am doing everything in my power to keep you alive, but that won't be worth much if you insist on making trouble."

"Your altruism amazes me, Dulcite," Darien said dryly. The general whirled.

"Prince Darien?" she said incredulously. "Well. This is a surprise. You're fortunate Kalcite wasn't the one guarding you; if he had been, you'd be dead right now."

"Really."

"Yes, really!" Dulcite snapped. "I'm the only one here who knows the six of you are Sailor Scouts. Everyone else thinks you're spies for Lord Orite. It's in your interests to keep it that way."

"Whose interests?" Raye asked archly. 

Dulcite smiled without humour. "For the moment, I think our interests coincide. You want to stay alive, to escape from Kalcite and Orite. I want Kalcite and Orite dead."

"Why do you need us for that?" Darien inquired. "I'd have thought a knife in the back would do well enough."

"Because," Dulcite explained patiently, "if they were to just die, their assets and such would simply revert to their heirs and they'd be replaced by two other generals. If they die in military disgrace, as I am the next-in-command of this mission, their territory and everything they have goes to _me_." Dulcite looked around at them. "Just keep quiet and don't make trouble, and by tomorrow morning everything will be taken care of. Understand?"

"We understand," Darien said reluctantly.

Dulcite nodded. "Good. Now, I need one of you to come with me."

"I'll go," Darien said immediately.

"I thought you'd volunteer," Dulcite said with a smile, running one hand down Darien's cheek in a flirtatious gesture. Serena clenched her teeth. "But you're too well known around here, I'm afraid. It'll have to be someone else. Which one of you girls is Sailor Moon?" No-one answered. Dulcite rolled her eyes. "Really, there's no point in being stubborn. It isn't that hard to figure out. You with the meatballs, come here."

"Where are you taking her?" Darien demanded. Dulcite didn't answer, merely took Serena's arm in a firm grasp and pulled her out of the cell. "Dammit, answer me! What are you going to do with her?" The door slammed shut in his face. Darien pounded uselessly on it. "Hey! Answer me!"

Lita caught his wrists, held them still. "That's not going to do any good," she said. "We've got to stay calm. Look, that woman said we weren't going to be hurt--"

"That was Dulcite," Darien interrupted, seeming not to hear her. "I knew her, before. She lies and manipulates as easily as she breathes. She kills people if they get in her way, or if it serves her purpose. She's completely cold." His fists clenched. "We've got to get Serena back. There's no telling what Dulcite might do to her. I can't let her get hurt. If I fail her again--"

"You're going to lay this on yourself too, aren't you," Raye said sharply. "Darien, no offense intended, but this is hardly the time to wallow in guilt, is it? Especially over something that you aren't responsible for, as everyone's been trying to tell you."

Darien glared down at her. "I don't see how Serena and I are any of your business."

"And what _I_ see," Raye retorted, "is someone who must be blind as well as stupid. How can you not realize how much Serena loves you? So you did some things you aren't proud of. _She doesn't care_. Don't you know how much you're hurting her by beating yourself up this way?"

"Raye," Luna said firmly, "you shouldn't say things like that."

"He needs to hear it, Luna," Raye answered angrily. "You know that. You know Serena better than anyone. How many times did she cry herself to sleep thinking she was the reason Darien was gone? How many times did she wonder if maybe he didn't love her anymore, if that was why he didn't come back--because he didn't care about her enough to try?"

"She knows I love her!" Darien protested. "It's just--she deserves someone better than me. I love her, I always will--"

"Really?" Raye fixed him with a glare. "Because a minute ago it sounded like you were trying your hardest to drive her away. You want her to forgive you? She will. But forgive yourself first."

***

Cithite, a slender dark-haired woman, glanced indifferently at Dulcite, then at Serena beside her. "What is it, Dulcite?"

"Chief Arbitrator Cithite," Dulcite said formally, "this is Sailor Moon. I captured her, along with the rest of the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask, this morning."

"Really." Cithite took a closer look at Serena. "Interesting. Why bring her to me, though?"

"Because I have to tell someone about this, and I couldn't trust anyone else. You have a reputation for being trustworthy, I understand, and everything I say here must be kept in strict confidence."

Cithite nodded. "You have my word. What is it?"

"I've discovered that Kalcite and Orite are collaborating with the Sailor Scouts," Dulcite explained. Her grasp on Serena's arm tightened surreptitiously, warning Serena to keep silent.

"That's a serious charge. Can you prove it's true?"

"I wouldn't have brought it to you if I couldn't. Tonight, Kalcite and Orite are going to try to free the Sailor Scouts. Kalcite's arranged to have himself on guard duty tonight; no-one will stop them. The Scouts will be out of here before anyone knows."

"Those are still just accusations," Cithite pointed out. "You've shown me no proof of any of this."

"Bring your guards to the detention block tonight," Dulcite said. "You'll see that what I've said is true."

"Hmm." Cithite turned her attention to Serena. "Well? Are Kalcite and Orite really working with you?"

"Yes," Serena squeaked, repeating what Dulcite had told her to say. "They offered us our freedom in exchange for our help in getting them safely to Earth."

"Very well," Cithite said. "I'll have my guards there tonight, Dulcite. You'd better be telling the truth about this."

***

The cell door opened, and Serena stumbled in as the door closed behind her. Darien hurried to her side. "Are you all right?" he asked, worried. "Did she hurt you?"

Serena shook her head. "I'm fine. Listen, everybody, Dulcite told this other negatrash woman that Kalcite and Orite are going to try to break us out of here tonight."

"Hey, that's great!" Mina exclaimed. Serena shook her head.

"Not great. There are going to be guards there to arrest both of them for--uh, collaboration with the enemy, I think."

"Well, so what?" Mina asked. "Kalcite and Orite get arrested, and then Dulcite will have what she wants and we can go."

"Mina," Artemis said patiently, "think about this. Both of Dulcite's major rivals have been eliminated, and she has the Sailor Scouts in her dungeon--what do you think the odds are that she'll let us go?"

"I didn't think of it that way," Mina admitted. "So what do we do?"

Amy held up her computer. "I've made a map of the parts of this complex we've gone through," she said, "and Darien's helped me fill in the rest of it. We'll go with Kalcite and Orite, then when Dulcite's guards show up, I'll create a fog and we'll slip past them."

"And then what?" Serena asked.

"Everyone should memorize this map in case we get separated; we'll meet back where we arrived and take Malachite's tunnel back out."

Lita snapped her fingers. "I just thought of something," she said. "This might be a really stupid question, but why can't we just teleport out? I mean, the Sailor Teleport got us here when we came to fight Beryl; why wouldn't it work now?"

"I thought of that," Amy said, "but we aren't strong enough here. The teleport takes all the energy we have even in our own universe; in this one we wouldn't be able to take even ourselves, let alone the cats and Tuxedo Mask as well."

"Oh. So much for that, then." Lita frowned. "But what if they've found the tunnel and collapsed it?"

"We'll worry about that when we get there," Luna said. "It's almost night. You'd better transform."

***

Orite crept along the corridor. He felt something wrong, but he didn't know what. He shrugged inwardly and put it down to the strangeness of the situation; he wasn't used to sneaking around in this place. Usually he _wanted_ to be noticed.

"Detention A," he said to himself. "Here we are." He could tell which was cell fifty-one even at this distance; two guards stood at the near end of the hallway, and another in front of the cell itself.

Orite gestured at the two guards, and energy bolts sizzled from his fingers to strike them both. They collapsed soundlessly on the stone floor. Orite smiled and readied another blast--

--and dove wildly aside as a bolt of lightning struck the stone where he'd been standing. _The third guard must have heard me_, he thought. _Beryl's teeth, everything's going wrong tonight._

"Who's there?" the guard shouted. "Show yourself!" His voice sounded strangely familiar, but the stone hallways distorted sound and Orite wasn't sure.

Orite gathered his energy and sent a blast searing down the corridor. It was met with a second bolt of lightning, and the two stood stalemated for a moment before Orite's greater strength prevailed and his energy beam penetrated the guard's defense and burnt a hole in his chest.

Staggering slightly, Orite made his way to the cell. He looked down at the dead guard and swore softly. The dead face staring sightlessly up at him was that of Kalcite.

_Never mind that now_, Orite told himself. _Just get your people out and go. No-one will ever know you were here_. He took a key from his belt and pulled open the cell door.

Orite jumped backward at the sight of the six figures in the cell--five in short skirts, one in a tuxedo. "The Sailor Scouts?" he said incredulously. "But--"

"Go!" Sailor Moon shouted, and the six of them darted past him into the corridor and ran. Orite cursed and ran after them.

A full company of Cithite's soldiers appeared ahead. "Stop!" Dulcite shouted. "Stop the traitor! Get the Sailor Scouts!"

"Shine Aqua Illusion!" Mercury shouted. A cold dense fog suddenly filled the corridor, and the Scouts disappeared into it. Dulcite fired wildly into the mist, but it wouldn't disperse. She heard several screams as her blasts struck flesh, but by the sounds of it, they were her own soldiers. Echoes reflected back--no, more than echoes--her soldiers were firing as randomly as she herself, hoping to strike a hit. Out of the corner of her eye, Dulcite saw Orite go down, clutching at his ruined throat, his blood fountaining in the air.

"Cease fire!" Dulcite ordered. "Cease fire! Go after them!" No-one heard. The soldiers, thinking they were being attacked, kept firing energy blasts, unwittingly killing each other in the enveloping mist.

An energy bolt burst out of the whiteness, striking Dulcite in the shoulder. She staggered and automatically fired back in the direction of the blast. _Stupid, stupid,_ she cursed her reflexes. _Have to stop this before it's too late, before--_

The next blast struck her dead-on, and she fell to the ground. _Is this what it's like to die?_ she wondered. _It hurts like hell._ That was her last thought.

***

Mercury led the way back through the tunnels, counting off signs in her head. When they reached sector nine, she stopped. "We're here," she said. "You'll have to reopen the tunnel, Sailor Moon."

"Right!" Sailor Moon held up the crystal. It glowed brightly, illuminating the dim hallway. "Moon Crystal Power!"

Malachite's tunnel appeared and grew until it filled the corridor. "Come on!" Luna said. She leapt into the tunnel. The others followed.

They tumbled out in front of the arcade, landing in a great heap in the street. It was dark save for a few lighted storefronts and the nearly full moon, and no-one was there to see them.

Sailor Moon closed her hand around the crystal, and its glow faded. The tunnel blinked out and disappeared. "Are they all dead, then?" she asked.

Luna nodded. "And hopefully the knowledge of who you girls are died with them," she said. "We should stay alert for the next few days, just in case, but I think everyone is safe now."

Mina suddenly started laughing. "What is it?" Lita asked.

"Look at the time." Mina held out her watch. "Ten forty-seven. It's still Christmas. Merry Christmas, everybody!"

"Merry Christmas!" Serena exclaimed. Everyone cheered.

"That was, without a doubt, the weirdest Christmas I've ever had," Amy giggled.

"Ten forty-seven?" Raye said suddenly. "I'd better get home! Grandpa's going to be worried sick! He expected me home yesterday!"

"I'd better go too," Mina realized.

The girls dispersed, heading toward their homes, and only Serena and Darien were left standing in the empty street. "Don't you have to go home too?" Darien asked. "I mean, won't your parents be angry at you for being gone this long?"

"Probably," Serena said cheerfully. "Who cares? I'd much rather spend what's left of Christmas with you." She slipped her arm around his waist. "Besides, I haven't given you your Christmas present yet."

"All right," Darien said, bemused. "I left yours at my apartment, though. Kind of. I mean, it isn't really finished yet--"

"Well, I promise to love it anyway," Serena said with a smile. "C'mon."

***

"Merry Christmas," Serena said, handing Darien a somewhat sloppily wrapped box. He wondered for a moment where she'd managed to hide it, then dismissed the thought. "Come on, open it!" Serena urged.

Darien carefully took off the wrapping paper and looked down at the packet underneath. "Plant food," he read. "For the professional gardener. Guaranteed the best roses you've ever grown--" He glanced up at Serena, who was grinning.

"Well, I wasn't exactly sure where you got your roses from," Serena said, "but I thought it was a good idea--are you laughing at me?" She picked up a pillow from the couch and threw it at him.

"It's a great idea, Serena," Darien said, smiling. "It's a wonderful present. Here, I've, ah--I've got yours somewhere around here--" He looked helplessly at the piles of clutter scattered across the apartment floor. "I'm just not exactly sure where. I was working on it yesterday evening--ah, there it is!" He snatched an object out of the junk and held it behind his back. "Close your eyes."

Obediently, Serena closed her eyes. She felt him place something in her hand, and opened her eyes again. "Merry Christmas," Darien said, smiling.

Serena gasped. "It's beautiful!" It was a love bracelet, like the ones that Serena had tried to learn how to make. It was pink and white, and woven into the centre in gold thread was a tiny crescent moon.

"Serena," Darien began, "I don't know how to say this. I know I haven't been--I mean, I know I've done some things that--"

"It doesn't matter," Serena said.

"But it does. I want to apologize, Serena. I'm sorry I hurt you, I'm sorry I've been shutting you out--I love you and I never meant--" He shook his head. "I'm babbling. I'm not much good at this sort of thing."

"Darien Chiba, listen to me," Serena said. "I love you. No matter what you've done, no matter what you do, that isn't going to change. Nothing else makes any difference."

"I love you, Serena," Darien whispered, and bent down to kiss her.

Snow was falling over Tokyo as midnight approached, blanketing the apartment and the city in silence. It was Christmas night, and, at peace, the city slept.

End.


End file.
